Paul Hewitt

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT PAUL HEWITT - PAGE 4

In the NCAA basketball final, you know you've won when someone hands you a commemorative shirt and baseball cap moments after the buzzer sounds. And you know you've lost if CBS sideline reporter Bonnie Bernstein wants to have a chat with you. "If I were a coach," Bernstein says, "the last thing I would want to do is talk to me." Bernstein has been interviewing losers for years (and sometimes, as this story suggests, losers interview her). "The first time I can remember was (then-New England Patriots coach)

It's hard to say what makes a neighborhood a good place in which to raise a theater. Some areas, like the Northwest and Southwest Sides, shelter very few professional stages; they lack the "critical mass" in audience support that's necessary to sustain a stage. But, then, as if to improve the average, Chicago has such dramatic enterprise zones as Pilsen and Bucktown. Particularly encouraging is Bucktown, a still ungentrified mid-North community on the west bank of the Chicago River.

Money may not be the root of all evil, but an inordinate love of the stuff could turn you into a bogle, and that is not a pleasant prospect. In "13 Bells of Boglewood," a bogle is the prisoner of his own greed, tethered in a fairy forest very near the fairies` treasure, but never near enough to touch it. To make matters worse, he looks like Robinson Crusoe before he figured out how to make soap. The new production of the Theatre School of DePaul University has a strong moral lesson, but that doesn`t get in the way of a rollicking good time.

Since it opened in the fall of 1994, the United Center has come to be known as a tough place to shoot a basketball. True or not, the assertion has lasted as the years have gone on, and it was one UNLV guard Kevin Kruger was more than happy to accept as fact. "Sounds like a good excuse to me," Kruger said. "I'll take it." Kruger could afford to laugh off a day on which he missed all eight of his shot attempts but dished out eight assists as the seventh-seeded Runnin' Rebels held off No. 10 seed Georgia Tech 67-63 in the first round of the Midwest regional on Friday.

Georgia Tech's defense smothered Texas Tech on Friday, night and the Yellow Jackets beat the Red Raiders 85-65 to win the Preseason NIT in New York. Coach Paul Hewitt touted Georgia Tech's B.J. Elder as the "best-kept secret in college basketball," but Elder had plenty of help against Texas Tech. Jarrett Jack finished with 17 points, while Elder and reserve Isma'il Muhammad had 16 each. Andre Emmett led Texas Tech with 25. Stormy weather St. John's guard Willie Shaw, a senior averaging 4.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in the Red Storm's first two games, was suspended for violating team rules.

Freshman point guard Jarrett Jack scored a career-high 20 points, banking in a crucial three-pointer with 39 seconds left, and Georgia Tech beat No. 8 Maryland 90-84 Sunday. The visiting Terrapins (14-6, 6-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) have lost two in a row and gave up 90 points for the first time this year. Jack was inspired by the presence of Stephon Marbury, in Atlanta for Sunday night's NBA All-Star Game. The former Georgia Tech star sat a few rows behind the Yellow Jackets' bench.

It was certainly hard for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets not to think about it. This season's Final Four will be at the Georgia Dome, which is in Atlanta, which is were Georgia Tech's campus is located. "When you drive by the Georgia Dome, you can't help but think about the possibility," Tech coach Paul Hewitt said of advancing to final weekend in his veritable back yard. "Now that you're in the tournament, that's the furthest thing from your mind." What's on Tech's mind at the moment is Friday's first-round Midwest regional matchup against seventh-seeded UNLV.

Xavier basketball coach Skip Prosser, who has been considered the front-runner for the Notre Dame opening since the withdrawal of Rick Majerus on Tuesday, met for about an hour Sunday with Irish officials in Florida. But the presence of a new X-factor--Gonzaga's Dan Monson--could complicate Notre Dame's decision. Prosser was interviewed by Rev. Edward A. Malloy, the school president; Athletic Director Michael Wadsworth and Associate Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham. Rev. E. William Beauchamp, the executive vice president, was said to have taken part via telephone.

A mating dance between Notre Dame and Utah basketball coach Rick Majerus has begun. The school with the highest-profile opening in the nation has communicated its interest. And Majerus has become intrigued enough to consider the potential makeup of his Irish staff. Two sources, one familiar with each side of the relationship, confirmed the mutual interest. Majerus would provide instant credibility and adrenaline for a program that has languished as a Big East member and has not made the NCAA tournament since 1990.

Gather the women and children and head for high ground. The Apocalypse must be at hand. First, Wake Forest won the Atlantic Coast Conference in football and played in the Orange Bowl. Now the only undefeated team left in Division I basketball is ... Clemson? "They're a very good team," said Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, whose team lost last weekend at Clemson (17-0, 3-0 ACC). Clemson hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 1998, former coach Rick Barnes' final season.